"I will be 60-years-old, and I will be dead," the talk
host tells his show staff on 97.3 KIRO FM's John Curley
Show. "I have put an expiration on myself, that I will be
dead in ten years."

The auctioneer and talk show host will be turning 50 on
June 30 and the milestone apparently got him thinking.

"I need a finish line," says Curley. "I read one place one
time that the average person running in a race will run
the last 300 yards almost 20 times faster than they've run
the previous mile if they can see the finish line or hear
the finish line."

Curley experienced this himself when running an Iron Man
in France.

"I could see the finish line and I knew that it was over.
The 15 hours and 30 minutes of unbelievable pain soon
would be over. I actually started sprinting," says
Curley. "I could barely move, but because it was there and
it was over, suddenly I was enthused with a whole bunch of
energy and strength that I hadn't previously had."

This phenomenon Curley says made him think it might be
just as propelling a thought to see a finish line on life.
Disease or cancer is a wake-up call for some, but without
that threat Curley wondered how he could achieve the same
result.

"I can't have some arbitrary 80 or 92," says Curley, of
the age at which he might suppose he'd die. "I've got to
put a finish line on there."

Curley decided to give himself a finite amount of time. He
declared he only had 10 years left.

"And I'm telling you something, I have a new found
enthusiasm," says Curley. "All of a sudden I feel great."

In the few days since he set his expiration date, he's
already outlined some changes he'll be making. He says
he's cutting his auctioneer dates down from 100 to 50 and
plans to spend that extra time with his kids.

"I realize if you put a 10-year limit on yourself, you've
got to get all that time in with your kids. My kids are so
unbelievably cute right now," says Curley. "I like the
fact that right now, I've got precious time."

While he says he doesn't plan to climb Everest, another
Iron Man competition is definitely on his list. He also
plans to coach his son's football team.

"My 10-year plan is in full steam. I see the finish line,"
says Curley.

"You know that country song, 'Live like you were dying,'
that's the feeling I have," says Curley. "I'm not wasting
time anymore."

About the Author

Jamie Skorheim
Whether it's floating on Green Lake, eating shrimp tacos at Agua Verde, or taking weekend drives out to the Cascades, she loves to enjoy the Pacific Northwest lifestyle as much as humanly possible.